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" 'First Gen' is kind of the ode to my parents and to really all immigrant children who come here with kind of a preemptive expectation placed on them, and then they get there, and they realize the American dream is bigger than, sometimes, what our parents dreamt. "

Yvonne Orji

Dream

American Dream

Children

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" For me, comedy was deftly terrifying. "

Yvonne Orji

Terrifying

Comedy

" As for my role models... you know, I'm an immigrant, so we didn't grow up with too much TV. My parents were like, 'You must read your books.' "

" When something is not great, I'm not going to eat it. It's not enough to just get full. It's like, how does this make you feel? "

Yvonne Orji

Eat

You

" How many shows on TV do you see young black people, both women and men, really embody a full-fledged human being, flaws and all? "

" There's not one black narrative. There's not one way to be black. "

" I went to an all-girls boarding school in Maryland. I used to laugh at the girls in the theater program - I was pre-med, National Honors Society; I was on that track. "

" I came to America when I was six. In true African form, my parents wanted me to be a doctor or lawyer or engineer. "

Yvonne Orji

Lawyer

Doctor

" It's great for people to give out of the kindness of their hearts, but because we're in a consumerist society, it's also great to have the opportunity to give and get. "

" For me, staying ready has always been, like, the preparations: do the behind-the-scenes or do what you think that's not sexy that nobody will see, but when they do see it, it's like, 'Oh, snap... what she's doing on her own, we'll add to that, and it'll blow up.' "

Yvonne Orji

She

Doing

" On a man, I love Tom Ford's Tobacco Vanille. But I wear Orchid Soleil - I love a sweet smell. "

" I took organic chemistry, and I got my first-ever F. I ended up going to summer school, and the whole time, I'm thinking, 'I am not good at sciences.' "

" I remember, growing up, it wasn't sexy to be African. We got called names. "

" A healthy smile has always been important to me. "

" I'll probably always opt for makeup because I just like the way it feels. You can play with it and create different looks, and I think that's fun. But I also want the option to not need it. "

" My mom would always say, 'Hair is a woman's beauty.' I cut my hair all off. I was completely bald, and that was, like, 'What in the world?' My mom was like, 'What happened?' She had so many questions. "

" Sometimes you're just regular. Sometimes you wake up, and your breath stinks like everybody else, and you had a bad hair day. "

" I like things to happen organically. "

" It's only in acting where I've heard in auditions, 'Can you black it up a little bit? Can you make her a little bit more urban?' And it's just like, 'What?' I don't even know the word for that. "

" I was supposed to be the doctor in my family. "

" People are surprised I do comedy! And I'm like, 'Guys, that's all I have been doing. For, like, forever.' "

Yvonne Orji

Doing

Forever

" We didn't grow up with TV as a viable means of supporting yourself. "

Yvonne Orji

Yourself

Grow

" I'm just gonna talk about being Nigerian-American. I'm gonna talk about being single. I'm gonna talk about what happened to me on the train today. I'm gonna talk about so many other things that, as a comic, you're able to talk about because you see the world in sarcasm. "

" You can't say you're an actor if you've never acted, and you can't act if no one gives you an opportunity, but they won't give you an opportunity because you've never acted. You're like, 'What in the world? Someone give me a chance!' "

Yvonne Orji

You

Opportunity

" Sometimes you are the only living, walking, breathing version of the Bible that people will ever see. What long-lasting taste are you going to leave in their mouths? A lot of people have left a bad taste. And it's so unfortunate, because God is the best! "

" On 'Insecure,' Molly works at a law firm, and there's scenes where her boss doesn't value her voice and doesn't value her efforts. And we had a lot of women tweeting 'Me too' in that situation. We're saying, 'Hey, no more. Not on our watch.' "

" A lot of people hustle differently, and I was like, 'You know what, let me hustle and create, and let me have something to show,' cuz my hustle led to opportunity. "

Yvonne Orji

People

Opportunity

" I had my masters in public health, and the goal was to be a doctor, and organic chemistry let me know that that was not going to happen, as did my fear of blood. "

" My faith has really been the biggest asset of my career. It has grounded me and let me focus on what's important. "

Yvonne Orji

Focus

Faith

" Before 'Insecure,' I was a wedding emcee - a host for weddings. That's a world that a lot of people are not familiar with. "

" My father just instilled in me that either you're going to be No. 1 or nothing at all. "

Yvonne Orji

Father

Nothing